Blood Ties
by Ria Lucas AKA Xayian
Summary: M&S investigate a case and meet up with a woman with ties that link FM to Syndicate. PreJD and FM abduction. This is a story that i had posted previously and have made some minor revisions.
1. Chapter 1

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Title - Blood Ties

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Author - M. Lucas

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Rating - PG

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Classification - X

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Spoilers - none to think of

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Summary - M&S go on a routine investigation and meet up with a mystery woman with ties that link Mulder to the Syndicate.

**Author's Note:** This was my first venture into fanfic of any type. It has undergone a few minor revisions and takes place before Scully had become a full-blown believer and before Mulder had undergone his own bit of genetic manipulation. So if there are any suggestions, comments or not so obscene remarks, they would be most welcome. 

Thanks much.

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Disclaimer: The X-Files® belongs to Chris Carter and Ten Thirteen Productions and are simply used in this story to make it more interesting. There was no profit sought in the making of this story. Nor was there any actual damage done to property to help write this story. I've just graduated from college and owe a substantial amount in loans, so nothing can truly be gained by suing me. Thank you for your support, in this, my first endeavor into fanfic.

Maria Lucas

**Blood Ties**

It was Mother's Day and she knew the family was planning a surprise. She had spent the day at Dr. McGrady's office and was on her way home. He had confirmed what she had already suspected. Now all she had to do was figure out how she would tell the family. She had made up her mind that she would just tell them as soon as she got home when she saw it . . ..

It's her home and she won't leave it. She can't. How could she when everything is here? All the memories of old, of a child lost and a husband gone. There was never any other place that could truly be called home. She could rebuild, continue to remember. But the destruction was too great to overcome. Besides, she has another life to consider now. A new life on the way. It will never know the father's love it could have received or the sibling who would have watched out for it when it was weak. All she can say to her child is, 'No matter what happens now, those memories will live on with the new one's we'll make.' Mother's Day will never be the same again.

"First things first. When I find out who did this, nothing will stop me." 

They said that it was the wiring.

Another part of her was reemerging. 

That it was old.

A part long believed buried. 

The fire had spread too quickly.

Buried so deep that she almost believed that it was gone. 

There was nothing that could have been done once the blaze was going. 

It rose, and rose. 

Emergence!

Her senses reeled as they began to process and readjust, to the massive sensory input that was once again being absorbed. It was at first so overwhelming that she was nearly knocked off her feet. But she stood fast and the body remembered. Remembered how to channel the energy, not fighting it, but allowing it to flow freely through her. Standing in the rubble, she took in everything around her. The things that she sensed were coming into focus now. She could see what had happened that day. The patterns were erratic, but the picture was becoming all too clear. All too clear who had done this. It was his way of showing that he knew that she had faked her death and this was the price for doing so. He never did like being tricked, and took pleasure in knowing that she would get the message. He was even so bold as to use his own cigarette to trigger the fire. Taking pleasure in his control. They want to pull her back into the fold. He seems to believe that now that she has nothing, that there is nothing to ground her, she would come back out of fear. He's so _very_ wrong.

Once, maybe. Now. Never. He has no idea what he has done. There were things that she knew. Things that she had learned under his instruction. Yet there was more. He believed that she lacked the killer instinct. He had plans of changing that. Plans to ultimately controlling her. Only now, she did have the killer instinct, and he most definitely did not have control. Control of her ability, her mind, body and soul. More control than any of her 'doctors' could have ever expected. Soon he'll experience just how much first hand.

FBI Headquarters

Washington DC

Two weeks later.

Dana Scully walked in to find Fox Mulder engrossed in another X-File. A smile creased the edges of her mouth as she watched him studying the neatly typed pages, his brows furrowed in concentration, the light glinting off his glasses as he turned his head to review the next page. His attention seemed so focused on the file that he didn't appear to notice her presence. 

"Come look at this, Scully." He said as he looked up at her. He had that smile and look upon his face that suggested yet another mystery that he intended to throw her way. His intent, as usual, was to have fun clashing their opposing theories. Sometimes, she suppose, he lived for those opportunities to question, and be questioned, about what is and is not possible. To engage her in another discussion within the realm of extreme possibilities that he so enjoyed exploring.

"About a couple of weeks ago," Mulder began, "a suburb in Boston suffered a brownout that spanned a two block radius at the center of which remained the rubble of a burned down home."

"Mulder," Scully replied before he could continue, "that could have easily resulted from the fire itself. The fire probably damaged some power lines close by. This doesn't seem to be something that would warrant the attention of the X-Files." Approaching his desk, Scully noted that lopsided grin that usually preceded some revelation. A revelation that generally put her explanations on shaky ground. 

"Scully, I'm hurt." Mulder said, placing his hands across his heart. "Have you no faith in me?"

"Okay, Mulder." She said sighing. "Out with it. What makes this our case?"

"Well, Scully," Mulder began, as he leaned back in his chair, "I would agree with you if this brownout hadn't occurred a week after the initial fire. All power had been cut to the house, eliminating any connection to the surrounding homes. I wouldn't have even paid much attention to the report if witnesses hadn't reported seeing someone standing in the debris glowing in a blue light while emitting what looked like sparks of electricity."

"Glowing in a blue light while emitting sparks of electricity, Mulder?" Scully replied taking the file to review. "You're not thinking that this is some power-sucking mutant that emits an after-meal gas cloud in the form of a blue glow, are you?"

Mulder watched as Scully's eyebrow arched in skepticism and sarcasm. He always got a kick out of seeing that. He was going to enjoy it more as he knew it would go higher with his next statement. "On the contrary, Scully," he replied, "Although the thought of a power-sucking mutant with its unique form of flatulence is intriguing. I think that what was witnessed was a person who has somehow been able to harness and master the electrical field around themselves to such an extent that they are able to effect their environment to the degree that was reported. The brownout."

"Mulder, if this is true, how can someone live their life without anyone finding out about this? I'm sure that such control would have had to have been mastered at some point, but until such a time there were bound to have been slips."

"I agree, Scully." Mulder replied, sitting up. "However, I've been unable to locate any such reports in the files. This person had to have been raised by someone that had prior knowledge of such an ability and took the required precautions to keep said ability a secret."

"I take it then that we will be going on a trip to Boston, which I'm sure that you've already arranged, to find out just how someone could live with such an ability and go unnoticed." Mulder smiled as Scully continued, "In the meantime, I'm to go up to Assistant Director Skinner's office to request that we be assigned this case because coming from you it would not receive the assurance that would be given if say I were the one to present it. Stop me if I'm wrong, Mulder."

"Scully, you amaze me with your powers of perception." Mulder's smile broadened as he leaned back in his chair and placed his hands behind his head.

"I'm surprised you'd even notice something like that, Mulder, considering the 'observations' you like to make during your down time."

"Why, Scully? Are you interested in my down time?" Mulder replied.

"Shut up, Mulder."


	2. Chapter 2

Boston

School of Martial Arts

He watched the new student. She had only been at the school a little over a week, yet she was already knocking down the top students in the class. These guys weren't pushovers either. When she had first signed up, she had said that she had not trained for almost five years and had wanted to brush up, yet watching her, it was as if she had never stopped. It would only take her but a few moves to knock the other students down. It had only taken a few more moves to knock him down, and he was the instructor. He had even won a few martial arts championships. Her training showed through to its fullest.

The kind of skill that she had acquired could only have come from years of training, and based on the age she had given, she must have started when she was just a child. He had only know some Asian cultures to encourage such precise skill and dedication in their young, but he was sure she was not Asian. 

She was a mystery to him. An enigma in her own right. He had tried starting conversations with her but had failed to keep her still long enough to gain any kind of information from her. She had this way of getting out of conversations without seeming rude. He had, however, been able to figure out one thing about her: something had to have happen to her, and it had to have been recent too. He saw it in those moments that she thought no one was watching. It was like a deep sadness had overtaken her, yet at the same time there was a hardness about her. A rage inside that she kept firmly in check. Whatever had happened to her, whoever had done it, he'd hate to be in that person's shoes when the time comes to deal.

**

_He's watching me again. I don't like being watched. I suppose that it's for the best that it's time for me to move on to the next step. I've already located one of the facilities. It wasn't really hard. That cigarette smoking son of a bitch was having me watched. It was simply a matter of getting the poor guy's attention and _persuading_ him to share the information that I needed. He was most obliging with what he could provide me before he died. Too bad he was sent merely to watch me. All I received was the location of the local Syndicate stomping ground and a few access codes. He'll see just how well he trained me._

Picking up her bag, she made her way to the door. Master Morris was waiting in his usual spot. It was not enough that she would catch him watching her, but he would always try to engage her in conversation. If he hadn't always asked her about things that They already knew about, she would have had to have dealt with the red-headed man and moved on. She knew that he meant well, but it was becoming tiresome. She had eventually blown it off as just a part of his nature when she had learned that he used to be a Texas Ranger. If you can't trust a Texas Ranger whom can you trust?

She was thinking of what she had planned to do when she found herself driving by what was left of her home. She hadn't realized that she was heading in this direction until she had stopped at the corner of where it used to be. It was just as well that she had continued to drive by it, because standing in the rubble were two people in trench coats. By their look, they were most definitely government. The tall one was a nice looking man with brown hair that brushed against his forehead. He was dressed in a blue suit and had the oddest-looking tie, it wasn't ugly but it was not what she would presume a government agent would wear. The other was a woman dressed fashionably in black dress pants, matching single button jacket and close fitting blouse. She had auburn hair that framed her face and was short, made slightly taller by the heels that she wore. The pair of them seemed odd at a glance, yet they complimented each other. She was light to his dark. She could sense a strong bond between these two. Not the type of people that she expected to find working for Them. No. They were here for another reason.

Stopping the car, she decided that the best way to gauge who they were, and what their objective was, was to approach them. It was good that, whenever she altered her appearance, she was always able to assume a form significantly different from her normal state, certainly different enough that she would never be recognized. She had arched her brows where as before she had never bothered to pluck them. She had also discovered early on that she could change her coloring by increasing her pigmentation, giving herself a more olive color. She had also begun stimulating the cell reproduction necessary to her to stimulate hair growth, causing it to become twice it's length and darker in color. Just a few days ago it was shoulder length and an almost blonde-brown, now it was nearly jet-black. She appeared as if she could almost be part Asian or Native American.

Approaching the two she had formulated a cover. She was just another lost pedestrian looking for directions to a house in the area. The closer that she got to them, the stronger the impressions that she received. The bond that she had sensed before was stronger than she had thought. The two of them must have shared much for them to become so close. To emit such energy. They had to be more than just partners. She was sure of it. 

What she had also sensed from the man was an eagerness to believe the unbelievable. Strangely enough, the woman emitted a sense of tight control, and didn't seem to be the type that would believe in anything too easily even if openly faced with the unbelievable. However, even with such skepticism, buried deep was a desire to believe as freely as her partner did. The woman's walls were built too strong for such complete faith to take root at the moment, but she sensed that those walls would one day come down.

They watched as she approached, halting whatever conversation they had been having. It was the man that approached her first. He had a charming lopsided grin that made him seem more attractive. Almost familiar. She surprised herself by changing approach strategies. "Excuse me. Are you investigating the Granger fire?"

"In a manner of speaking, yes we are. I'm Special Agent Fox Mulder, and this is Special Agent Dana Scully," he replied. "Did you know the Grangers?"

"Yes, I did. I dealt mostly with Mrs. Granger though. She had something of an at-home craft business." _The best lies_ are_ those close to the truth_, she thought. "I thought that the investigation had been closed, though. The news papers had said that the cause was electrical."

"Actually," replied Agent Scully, "there are still a few questions that remained to be answered. Have you had any contact with Mrs. Granger since the fire?"

Looking at the determined agent, she paused for a short moment before answering, "No, I haven't seen her since the fire and neither have any of our associates. I haven't had much luck finding her. I suppose that's to be expected though, considering she lost her husband and stepson. I don't think that I would be very social myself if the same had occurred to me."

"Do you know of any place that she may have gone?" continued Scully. "Close friends or relatives?"

"Like I said I've been trying to find her myself, I can't think of any place that she may have gone. I don't know of any relatives that she may have had. I don't believe she even had any. As for friends, I don't know of any besides a couple of business associates and myself, she never seemed to try and maintain any kind of associations that I'm aware of. I was probably the closest thing that she had to a best friend, and I wasn't even that close to her." Glancing at the two agents, she placed a surprised look upon her face, "You don't think that she could be responsible for the fire, do you?"

"No, we don't," replied Mulder. _Something about this woman seems familiar_, he thought. "We just need to ask her a few routine questions."

She could tell that they were buying everything that she had told them. If the woman weren't such a skeptic, she might have been able to detect something from her. She had sensed a latent potential in Agent Scully that, if explored, would have proved enough to see through her guise.

"Listen, if you can think of anything else that can help, no matter how obscure, give me a call." Mulder took out a card and a pen he used to write down the name and number of the hotel they were staying at and circling his cell phone number before handing it to her.

"I'll do that, thank you." She replied, taking the card from him. She felt a strong sense of him from the card. Again, the sense of familiarity that she was connected to him in some way. It was as if they had met before, yet she knew they hadn't. She wasn't sure what it was, but she would find out all she could. Placing the card in her pocket, she then turned and left the agents where she had found them.


	3. Chapter 3

"Well, Mulder, what do you think?" Scully turned and looked up at her partner. He was watching the woman as she drove off in a midnight-blue Millennia.

"Attractive. Potential date material but may wish for commitment. She is to be avoided at all costs." He turned and smiled at Scully, as she gave him one of her now famous looks. She always looked cute when she expressed mock annoyance.

"Ha, ha, Mulder. You know what I mean. Do you think that she knows something?"

"I don't think that she does. We'll just have to keep looking for Mrs. Granger ourselves and hope she can tell us who are esteemed 'bug zapper' is. We can contact someone at the local office to help us." Mulder was making his way to the car when he noticed that Scully had stopped following him. "What's up, Scully?"

"Mulder . . . You didn't happen to catch the name of that woman did you?" Scully gave him a puzzled look as they again continued to the car.

"You know, Scully, it hadn't even dawned on me to ask. It was as if it wasn't important." He too, seemed puzzled, as he glanced at his partner across the roof of the sedan. They both looked back in the direction that the car had gone, and then got into their car and drove off.

The Holiday Inn

2:30 PM

She had registered here as Samantha Loss. She had always liked the name Samantha, and when she was younger she had insisted on being called by that name. He had put a stop to that. Looking down at her, with the forever-present cigarette in hand, he told her that the name simply showed her weakness. That was why she was called Vesper. It was representative of her purpose. Her purpose, though still not clear at such a young age, was to be an instrument in the safe keeping of the good of the government and the people. She was a half-light. Living in the twilight. Trained to keep America's interests, the Syndicate's interests, intact. Looking back she thought of how insane that idea was - is. It's a wonder that he was unable to successfully turn her. All that she ever remembered, from her first memory, was the Operations Center. Yet, throughout that whole time, she maintained the belief that these people that watched over her, trained her, were utterly wrong. They treated her like an experiment. Hell, maybe she was. It just never felt completely true. Which brings her back to the appropriateness of the last name she chose.

Bringing her thoughts back to the present, she decided on a strategy for tonight's venture. Meeting the two agents had given her an idea. They would prove useful should things go according to plan. If things should go wrong, they would be the unknowing backups she would require. Either way, a monkey wrench would find its way into this dark machine. All that she needed to do was make one phone call to get the ball rolling.

Boston FBI Field Office

2:40 PM

"Did you get anything off our mysterious friend's license plate?" Scully asked, as she entered the makeshift office. She carried two cups of coffee in a small drink carrier, and a bag with a couple of sandwiches, which she placed on the desk in front of Mulder. 

With a small smile, and a nod of thanks, Mulder took a cup from the carrier and a sandwich from the bag. "You won't believe the name that popped up on the DMV's file. According to their records, our mystery woman's name is Lola Brummagem. 'Brummagem' is another word for phony. Whoever she is, she's good. Except for the name, all the information I have been able to dig up appears legitimate. You have to have a lot of skill and knowledge to create such an elaborate background."

"That or name really is Brummagem and you are grasping at straws."

"Nah. That's not it." 

"Right, Mulder," Scully said, smiling and taking a sip from her coffee before she continued. "How do you think that she's connected to this case?" 

"Well . . ." just then his cell phone began ringing, "Mulder."

"Agent Mulder, do you know who this is?" The voice that came out of the phone was feminine and familiar.

"That would depend. Is your name really Lola Brummagem?" Scully took the hint and picked up the desk phone to have the number traced.

"Bravo, Agent Mulder. I commend you. You're quicker than I had expected; you're going to need to be. I was expecting to have to work at getting your attention, now I'll simply come straight out and give you the reason for this call. I don't know the exact reason for why you're investigating the Granger fire, but I can direct you to the one responsible for it."

"Who are you really? What's your real connection to Felicia Granger and why should I believe you?"

"I'm just a concerned citizen trying to do the right thing, Agent Mulder. It doesn't matter if you believe me or not. In any case, I believe that you'll follow up on what I have to say. As to Felicia Granger, she no longer exists. She died the day that her family was taken from her. Just meet me on the docks, pier 13, at 5:00 PM. You'll get your answers then. I'll be waiting. Oh and, Agent Mulder?"

"Yes."

"Dress accordingly. We wouldn't want to stick out. Let your partner know that this is a no-heels engagement." The smile was evident in her voice as Mulder heard the click of the phone on the other end of the line.

Scully looked up from what she was writing. "I got the trace," she said hanging up the office phone, "it originated from the Holiday Inn."

"We may not need it, Scully. She was calling to set up a meet on the docks, at 5:00 PM. I can also safely assume that she probably knew we were tracing the call, so catching her at the hotel will be fruitless. However, we might find something there that we can use to figure out who she is. Let's get a warrant and a forensics team on it. Maybe we can get some prints from her room."

The Holiday Inn

3:00 PM

Front desk

Mulder walked up to the manager at the front desk and flashed his badge, "Special Agent Fox Mulder, with the FBI. We traced a call to this location and have a warrant to search the room that this number belongs to." Mulder put his badge away as the manager reviewed the warrant before looking up the number. Scully arrived at his side with three agents trailing behind her.

"Here we go, Agent Mulder. It's room 10."

"Who's registered at that room?"

"It's registered to a Samantha Loss," the manager replied.

"Samantha Loss?" Mulder asked. He had a bewildered look on his face that matched the one that Scully was showing upon hearing the name. Scully knew good and well that Mulder immediately made a connection to his lost sister. "How did she pay?"

"She paid cash and it appears that she has not checked out."

"Can you show us to the room?"

"Certainly." The manager waved someone to the desk to take his place as he lead the agents, the three agents followed carrying what appeared to be large boxes with handles, down one of the hallways that sprouted from the lobby. When they reached the room, Scully knocked on the door.

"FBI, open up." After waiting a moment, Mulder directed the manager to open the door, then dismissed him. He and Scully entered first and swept the room. The room and the bathroom were both clear. Mulder and Scully moved to the side as the other agents, forensics specialists, entered. One entering the bathroom to the right of the front door, the other two taking positions at opposite sides of the room. From the looks of things, it appeared as if she had just left. The bed wasn't made and the TV was still running.

"Looks like we just missed her," said Scully. Both agents scanned the room. On the table by the window they spotted a small book. Coming closer they noted that it was a New Testament pocket bible. It was the kind that some small churches gave out to new parishioners. Opening it to the index, Mulder noted that under "Christian Virtues and Character," Freedom, John 8:31-36 . . . 185 were marked. Turning to that reference, Mulder read aloud:

"Then Jesus said to those Jews who believed Him,

'If you abide in My word, you are My disciples 

indeed. And you shall know truth, and the truth

shall make you free.'"

"So, Mulder, what do you think?"

"For once, Scully, the message is clear. The mystery is how a 'routine' X-File investigation led to a clue to my sister's possible whereabouts."

Scully looked at Mulder and saw the excitement flaring in his eyes. He'd had so many clues thrust at him in the past that ended in so much frustration and more unanswered questions that she didn't think she could bare to see him crushed again. She just prayed, and not for the first time, that his leap of faith would prove fruitful this time.


	4. Chapter 4

Pier 13 

6:00 PM

"It's been an hour, Mulder. Are you sure she'll show?"

"She'll show." Mulder glanced at his watch also as he slowly paced in front of the car. He had been anxious ever since they had left the Holiday Inn. He had only the name and the passage from the bible, vague enough to pass as coincidence but just enough for him to question. He had gone over and over this with Scully. She had argued the former, that it was just coincidence. Mulder had suspected though that it was mostly so he wouldn't get his hopes up. She had finally said as much when they left their hotel. Now they were here at pier 13, 5 minutes past the hour, and still no closer to figuring out what was going on.

**

She woke up with a start. Her head hurt and her throat was dry. She made to get up but found that she had been restrained. Her wrists and ankles were pinned down with what felt like metal clamps. Across her forehead, shoulders and waist she felt straps made of leather. She couldn't get much leverage to look around, but she could tell that she was alone in a room, the size of which she could not determine. The only illumination came from below her. The light extended for a few feet then stopped, unable to penetrate the darkness beyond. She didn't have to guess to know where she was. The memories of being in the same position before were not pleasant to say the least.

They had her back.

She didn't know how they had taken her. She must have been gassed. The last thing she remembered was getting off the phone with the FBI agent and preparing to leave. She had started to feel dizzy, then woke up here. She knew that getting caught was a possibility but her ego made her careless. She thought she was better than the Syndicate. Better than the 'Cancer Man', for that is how she saw him. He was a cancer in need of removal for the betterment of those he touched. How could she have been so damn careless?

An electronic click sounded to her right. A shaft of light appeared and grew larger as a door swung open and there he stood. The light from behind him mage her squint. He stepped in and the door swung shut. A moment later the lights came on and there he stood by her side.

"I expected more from you, Vesper." He put his cigarette to his lips and inhaled deeply, blowing the smoke in her face. Standing a moment he began to circle the table. He never took his eyes off her face. He could see the rage in her eyes. The tension in her arms as her muscles flexed and her hands made tighter fists.

"I'll kill you for what you did to my family," she hissed.

"Your family?" Cancer Man smiled, "Well, I guess I should inform you, they were never your family. Didn't you ever wonder why we didn't come after you sooner? Why after five years, we suddenly appear without warning? At the very moment you are about to reach the peak of happiness."

"Shut up, you son-of-a-bitch," she whispers.

"Why? You want the truth, don't you? The need for truth is the one annoying habit that you received from your donor." He had paused at this, having said it mostly to himself. Pulling himself from his thoughts, he continued. "You've been with us your whole life. Our first successfully engineered hybrid. You know what we can do. What we're capable of. We instigated your whole escape. I set up the program to gradually influence you towards escape. We made you think that it was all your idea. Of course, you would have tried to escape eventually, but you know how I like to be in charge." 

He continued to circle the table. "My plan was perfect. You never even suspected the guard with the so-called 'drinking problem.' My dear, once he was in position, the rest of it fell into place. After all, I was the one who oversaw your training. Your 'death' was a nice touch on your part by the way."

"And my family?" she said mournfully.

" . . . Worked for us. An agent and a drone. Both expendable."

"Why did you do this?" Vesper struggled to keep the hurt at bay.

Cancer Man stopped at the foot of the table and took another puff from his Morley. "There's nothing like an emotional trauma to bring out the best in us."

_They did this to enhance my power? They ripped my life apart to enhance my power? _The anger burning through her was hot. _I'll show them power_. With that thought she was off the table in a flash and at Cancer Man's throat, pinning him to the wall. He had no time to react.

"Know that you will pay dearly for what you've done," she hissed through her teeth.

Cancer Man began to get dizzy from the pressure on his neck. His eyes closed once. Twice. Then the pressure was gone and he could breath once more.

He opened his eyes to see that Vesper was still secured to the table in front of him. His own hands coming away from his throat. She was breathing hard and looked extremely fatigued.

"A . . .new talent," he gasped weakly. "Most . . .impressive. The slight morphing ability acquired from your alien DNA was a plus, but psychic projection? Very useful." With that, he walked to the door and was buzzed out rubbing his sore throat. All the while he was thinking that he should see about getting the genetic engineers a bonus. He also had to see about upping the sedative dosage.

"Wait," no matter what the cost she needed to know the answer to one question. "You mentioned my donor. Who is it?"

"My dear, I'm surprised that you didn't recognize him the moment you two met." With that he was gone.

She was left with her anger, her pain, and the smoking Morley that had fallen to the floor. She had thought that she had taken control of her own life just to find out it was all an illusion. Was the baby an illusion too? She got her answer when she began to feel the familiar cramp in her side that usually proceeded her cycle. She began to cry. She had wanted so badly to believe.


	5. Chapter 5

Everyday Inn

7:00 PM

"Are you all right, Mulder?" Scully asked as she walked in after him. She hung up her coat and stood at the table watching him do the same. She had finally convinced him that their mystery woman wasn't going to show. The drive back to the hotel had been a silent one and it was starting to bug her. She knew how important it was for him to find out this woman's connection to his sister. Hell, she wanted to know more so for Mulder's sake than her own.

Mulder sat on the edge of the bed. Something had to have happened to her. He was sure that she had every intention of meeting them. Why didn't she show? For that matter was it chance that this X-File even came across his desk? 

"Scully . . .?" there was a knock at the door before he could continue. Scully went to answer it and found a teenage boy standing in the hall with a package in his hand. He looked homeless.

"I'm suppose to give this to a 'Mulder.'" He said hesitantly.

"What is it?" Mulder asked, approaching the boy.

"Hey, man, I was just told to deliver it and get my money." He said handing Mulder the package.

"Your money?" Scully asked.

"Hey, don't worry. The lady already took care of it," with that the boy walked in past Scully, forcing her to move aside. He went straight to the table Scully had been standing by just a moment ago. He stuck his hands under it and felt around until he pulled out an envelope. He opened it and pulled out what looked to be about $200 in small bills. He was about to leave when Mulder stopped him.

"Wait a minute. What lady? What did she look like? What did she tell you?"

"She looked like you."

"What do you mean she looked like me?" Mulder asked.

"I mean what I said, she *looked* like you. Girl could be your sister or somethin'. Only she's a little darker, and she had really long hair. She didn't tell me her name or nothin'. She just said if I didn't hear from her, I should deliver the package. She said she'd pay good money." He smiled at that, looking at the money in his hands. He then pushed past Mulder and was out the door.

Mulder didn't bother going after him. Instead, he went to the table and emptied the package. Inside he found what looked to be a detailed blueprint for a building. Also included were what looked to be project locations in the building and a smaller envelope labeled code keys and passwords. Finally, he pulled out a hand written letter:

Agent Mulder, something must have happened to me and I didn't make the meet. Someone needs to know the truth. Someone needs to know about Them, and you and your partner seem to be the ideal people to entrust with what I know. They call themselves the Syndicate. I don't know the particulars, but I know that they have been conspiring with unknown alien entities for years. They have been manipulating genes of both our race and the aliens' for years in hopes of creating a more perfect race of people. One that can perform tasks in which both sides can benefit from without the risk of getting hurt themselves. Essentially a slave race.

Agent Mulder, I know that stopping them will be next to impossible for you, but as they say, knowledge is power. You must spread what you will learn from the information you will acquire. I've enclosed the passwords you will need to access their systems and the building layout. The computers can not be accessed from the outside and the codes are changed every two days and, if I have been caught, maybe sooner. It is imperative that you gain access tonight. The codes won't give you deep access into their systems, but they'll get you enough information to hurt them.

Find the truth Agent Mulder.

Vesper

Mulder put down the letter then picked it up to read again. He almost couldn't believe what he was reading. For the first time in a long time he was at a loss for words. His contacts had never handed him information like this. He had known about the existence of this organization for awhile but now he had a name. And though he'd known about the hybrids, he now had a reason for them. It was starting to make sense. All he had to figure out now was the ultimate goal behind the Syndicate. That should be as easy as breaking into a high security building and gaining access to computers using stolen codes. Codes that he's not even sure will still be active when he uses them. A piece of cake.

Scully picked up the letter and read it as Mulder studied the building plans. She too read it twice, but for a different reason than Mulder.

"Mulder, have you noticed anything particular about this letter?" Scully asked, handing it back to him.

"You mean by the fact that the person who wrote it, one that, according to that boy, looks like me, has handwriting practically identical to mine. Then yeah."

"This doesn't surprise you?" Scully asked incredulously.

"Actually, Scully, I knew something was up, but I wasn't sure of the turn it would take." Turning toward Scully as she sat down, he continued. "There have been one too many coincidences. First, this woman uses the same name as my sister. Second, she continually goes on about the truth."

"Like you do."

"Yeah, like I do. I mean the first time I saw her; there was something familiar about her. I just didn't know what."

"Mulder, how do you know that this isn't some strange and twisted attempt to set us up and totally discredit the X-Files. That would give them a perfect excuse to shut us down. Mulder, it'll be the whammy all over again."

"Set up or not, Scully, I can't pass this up."

Scully looked at Mulder. She could see it in his eyes that he was determined to see this through. There would be no amount of persuading that would convince him otherwise. They both knew where the other stood and that was always enough. She just hoped that this carrot They dangled in front of him wouldn't make too big an ass out of either of them, ending their careers.

"Okay, Mulder. Let's go."


	6. Chapter 6

8:00 PM

Gaining access hadn't been easy. Even though they had the building plans, they had still needed to get by a barbwire-topped fence and fifty yards of open ground in order to reach the building's side access. If the information they had were correct, they wouldn't encounter any live security. The Syndicate had relied too much on electronic security.

So far the first of the codes had worked. They had gained building access and had gone through two electronic doors, and passed two or three labs. They were headed down the last hallway before reaching the main computer room when Mulder stopped in front of one of the doors.

The door was unmarked, but beside it was a security monitor with a keyboard mounted below it. There was something about it that set the hair on the back of Mulder's neck a tingling. "Hold on, Scully. There's something about this set up that just says, 'I have something to show you.'"

"Mulder, we don't know how much time we have. Unlike you, braking into government facilities is _not_ a favorite pass time for me." Scully whispered impatiently.

"The high risk adrenaline rush turning you on, Scully?" he asked smiling. "This will only take a moment."

Mulder took the key card he had and swiped it through the slot above the keyboard. A second later the monitor kicked on with two options: Video Access and Room Access. Mulder selected Video Access and watched as a new window opened and an image appeared on the screen. There, lying strapped to a table, was the woman they had met the other day at what had been left of the Granger residence. The woman that he suspected to be the missing Mrs. Granger, despite appearances. Mulder selected Room Access, and heard the electronic click as the lock to the door disengaged.

She wasn't surprised to see Mulder and Scully. She had wanted to make sure that if she were unable to help them get the information, they would have the means in which to acquire it on their own. However, they were in the wrong room. They should be in the computer room.

"Agent Mulder, did you get the information?" she said anxiously.

"Not yet. Let me get you out of this first." Mulder started to work on the straps as Scully stepped up and began to look Vesper over.

"Are you all right?" Scully asked.

Ignoring her question, Vesper directed her gaze at Mulder. "Mulder, you don't have the time to waste helping me," she said weakly. "I don't have the strength to keep up with you, and you don't have the time to do what you have to do and carry me."

"Sure we do," Mulder replied. He was trying to figure out the metal clamps, and made the assumption that they had magnetic locks. "I think I can disengage these from the terminal by the door."

"Mulder, stop." It was an order. Vesper shook off Scully's hand from her forehead, and looked Mulder directly in the eye. "The locks are set to alert security if they are ever disengaged. We would have only five minutes before they would be on top of us. Get the information you came for and go," she pleaded. "If you don't this will have all been for nothing." Vesper stared at him for a moment and saw it in his eyes. "I know what you're thinking, Mulder. I am not the person you think I am. I did my research on you and I know of your sister. I swear to you, I am not her."

"Then who are you?" This time it was Scully who spoke.

"There is no time for me to explain."

"You're right, so you better talk fast."

"Fine. I am an abomination to the human race. I'm not natural, a hybrid of human and alien DNA. I am you, Fox Mulder."

Both Mulder and Scully were shocked into silence and disbelief. It seemed like an eternity before Mulder made his decision. He turned back to the door and disengaged the locks. He came back in, tossed Scully the key card, and moved towards Vesper.

"Well, lets go. We have 5 minutes and counting." Knowing the sacrifice he was making he put his arm around Vesper's waist and hoisted her up putting her arm around his neck. Just as quickly they were out the door and making their way out of the facility.

***

He was watching them on the security monitor. Everything was going according to plan. When they had recaptured Vesper, he knew that there was a possibility that she had already made contact with Mulder. Getting him the access codes that she must have pried from that inept agent that was sent to watch her. Yet, instead of changing the codes, he knew it would be better to allow Mulder and Scully to gain access into the building. 

He wanted them to gain confidence that they were on the right track. To be on the verge of gaining some much needed answers. That was why Vesper was strategically placed where she was. He knew that the temptation would be too much for Mulder to pass up. And the talk that he'd had with Vesper a few hours earlier; he knew what conclusions she would draw. That is why he knew Mulder would not leave her behind. He would, on his own, choose to save his 'sister' instead of accessing the Syndicates' computer systems. 

__

So close to the answers, yet so far from getting them. She didn't have a clue that he was again allowing her escape. _Two birds with one stone,_ he thought. Being out in the real world had done much to increase her potential. He wanted to see just how much further she could develop, and he would always be able to find her through her implant whenever he chose to check her progress. He was actually quite surprised that, with her power increase, she had not already detected it. _We'll certainly have to keep a close eye on her,_ he thought.


	7. Chapter 7

They had made good time, and were at the fence with a minute to spare. They merely had to get over the fence. Scully took Vesper's arm to support her while Mulder took off his coat intending to throw it over the barbed wire of the fence. The idea was for him to climb up and then reach down for Vesper, Scully would help heave her up then follow suit. Vesper stopped them before they could start.

"It's electrified. It would have been activated the moment the alarm was set off." Vesper pushed away from Scully and staggered toward the fence. "Let's see how strong I am, shall we."

Before Mulder or Scully could stop her she reached out and grabbed the fence with both hands. She suffered a serious jolt and was almost thrown, but she held fast. Sparks flew where her hands met the fence. She burned so hot and so brightly that Mulder and Scully had to step away from her. The amount of current she was absorbing was phenomenal. Suddenly, she let go of the fence, and shaking, turned around. "Close your eyes." She stretched out her arms towards the building and let loose the energy in one massive surge of blinding light. The building exploded and the three of them were blown against the fence.

Mulder was the first to recover. He looked over at Scully and saw that she was as dazed as he was. He went to help her up when he noticed that Vesper wasn't moving.

"Scully," Mulder gestured for his partner to come to his side where he knelt by Vesper. "Is she all right?"

Scully did a cursory examination, "As far as broken bones go she appears all right, Mulder, but I don't know what kind of damage she could have sustained by channeling the amount of current that she did. Genetic manipulation or not, she shouldn't be alive. We need to get her to a hospital."

Mulder turned back to the fence and noticed that the area where Vesper had held on had become brittle. Wrapping his jacket around his arm, he began swinging it against the fence until the links snapped and then eventually he kicked what was left down. When he was done, Mulder went back, hoisted his "twin" over his shoulder, and they were at the car in another four minutes. 

Neither one of them had noticed the black Saturn that drove away.

**

Everyday Inn

Mulder's room

9:45 PM

"How's she doing, Scully?" Mulder asked as he paced the room.

"Mulder, I really think that we should have taken her to the hospital," Scully replied from beside the bed. She'd just finished treating Vesper's hands, which had suffered surprisingly minor burns from all the energy that had been channeled through them.

"There's no way we're doing that. Her chances are better with you helping her here than in a hospital. She'd be as good as dead if we took her and you know it. With her kind of power, she wouldn't be allowed to roam free to destroy any more of their facilities. If they can't control her then they'll try and kill her."

"We don't even know what drugs she was given," Scully argued, "I would have to wait until…_if_ she wakes up before I could give her anything myself."

"We went over this in the car, Scully. I've made up my mind."

"And you think they won't look here?" she asked, frustrated at not being able to do more than sit by and wait when she could be running tests in a medical facility.

"At least here we wouldn't have to worry about some _nurse_ coming in to give her a shot to make her _rest_ better."

"Mulder?" Mulder and Scully looked down to see Vesper opening her eyes. "Where are we?" she asked getting up.

Scully tried to keep her from getting up, but she was waved away. Vesper moved to the side of the bed. Then placed her head in her hands in reaction to the sudden flash of pain she felt swimming threw her cranium. She flinched the moment her hands came in contact with her forehead and looking at them realized they were bandaged. 

Looking at her face as she raised it, Mulder finally saw the resemblance that he was not ready, he realized, to see before. She had lost the dark coloring that she had the day they had met, so the resemblance was more pronounced. It was uncanny.

She too, saw the resemblance but she wasn't as in awe as Mulder. After all, she was pretty much told that she had been spliced from his genes.

"How are you feeling?" Scully asked.

"Besides the fact that my hands feel like their on fire and my head feels as if it was run into a concrete wall at a hundred miles an hour? I'll live."

"So, tell me," Mulder said, as he pulled a chair in front of her, "how did you . . .come about?"

Vesper brought her hands down and placed them on her knees. "I don't know how to explain it myself. I was raised my whole life by people who knew exactly what I was. Whenever the subject was brought up, it was always to point out that I was not human. That I was less than human, not worthy of the privileges that being human granted one. Yet, at the same time, I was shown how I was physically more superior than the average person. The physical and mental focus that I displayed was always twice that which was considered normal. I use at least 50% more of my mind than the average person, Mulder. Yet, I was trained to always obey orders. It was drilled into me from the beginning. I was created to serve and protect the interests of the Syndicate.

"In truth though, they never knew what to make of me. I was their first hybrid experiment. Actually, I'm barely a hybrid for that matter. Only a small percentage of my DNA is alien. It had been thought that too much alien DNA would make me come out warped in some fashion."

"But what's your connection to me?"

"I can't be too specific on that. I was never told the details. I would always ask, and they would tell me that my human DNA came from the offspring of an operative. Sometimes I would overhear how disappointed they were that they had only the one sample of the DNA that they had created me from."

"That sample being mine."

"Yes."

"Hold on a minute," Scully interjected. "Correct me if I'm wrong. You're saying that your human DNA comes solely from Mulder, right?" Vesper nodded. "Well then that would mean you were a clone, and last time I checked a clone was an almost exact copy of the original. Not only are you not an exact copy, you're female."

"That could have been accomplished through genetic manipulation, I suppose. They always talked about how females were more intuitive, hence, more likely to be receptive to outside stimuli. With the proper sequencing this could be enhanced." 

"I find that the probability of that happening hard to swallow." Scully said. Now that she had something more scientific to deal with, she was grabbing hold of it.

"Scully, you saw her, with your own eyes, absorb a massive amount of electricity and redirect it to blow up a building. How can you not believe what she's saying?"

"I'm still trying to absorb that, Mulder. And I'm not saying that I'm discounting all of what she says, however, accepting that this 'Syndicate', even with the information that they acquired from their 'unknown' source, . . ."

"Aliens."

"Whatever. Even with this information, having the ability to manipulate DNA of a male and making it female? They could have just as easily taken the DNA from a female and saved themselves a lot of work. What I really want to know the answer to is, how and when did they acquire a sample of your DNA, Mulder?"

"Fox," Vesper interjected.

"'Mulder'" he corrected.

"Sorry. Mulder. Don't discount Scully's own beliefs. I sense that it is her skepticism that has kept you grounded on more than one occasion." Mulder smiled at that. "You're capable of more than you know, if only you'd let yourself be." She said looking at Scully. "As to how they acquired your DNA, I don't have the answer. The when, however, had to have been during your youth. I wasn't put through an accelerated process. It was thought that an accelerated process would increase the chances for error in my development.

"Besides, right now it doesn't matter. I'm here now. I exist. What does it matter how I came to be? I've spent too much time trying to explain it and most my life trying to understand it. I felt I owed you as much, Mulder, but now . . . I have to go."

"Go?" Mulder asked. "Go where?"

"It's best you don't know," Vesper rose removing the bandages from her hands and the Agents saw, to their astonishment, that her hands had completely healed. "I doubt that they'd kill you. If they were going to do that, it would have been done by now. I really don't know why they let you two or myself survive at all. However, I do know that they will come for me and I won't take the chance of either of you getting hurt because of me. I finally have a connection to someone. Someone I can truly call family. I don't plan on losing a brother."

Seeing that she had already made up her mind, Mulder decided not to argue the point further. If she was indeed like him, then once her mind was set there was no changing it. He would have to have faith that she'd be able to make it on her own without him.

"Vesper . . .?"

"Don't call me that. That's what they called me. It's just a project name that they used to refer to me," she paused and smiled. "Call me 'Fox.' It's not as if you're using it."

Smiling at that, Mulder continued, "Fox, how am I supposed to reach you?"

"Don't worry. I'll keep in touch." With that, Fox went to the closet. There she pulled a small package from above the inside of the closet doorframe, and made for the door.

"What the hell else do you have hidden in this room?" Scully asked.

"A map to the real location of Area 51," she replied and then she was gone.

Mulder turned to Scully. "Looks like we're going to have to take better care to search our rooms, Scully."

"What do you mean 'we'?" she replied, "This all happened in your room."

the end

so, what did you think?

Let me know. Direct all comments to:

xayian@juno.com


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